Skamania County, WA Property Records: Search Deeds, Owners, Tax Records, and Maps

Three Skamania County offices can help with your property search. Deeds, deeds of trust, and plats are recorded in the County Auditor's Office. The Assessor values all parcels, and the Treasurer bills and collects taxes. They have been recording since 1854, before the state was created, and span 1684 square miles in the Columbia River Gorge.

The land is largely publicly owned, as about four-fifths of the county lies within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which includes Mount St. Helens. Houses are clustered along the Gorge in the Central Seattle areas of Stevenson, Carson, and North Bonneville. Most of that strip is within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, where land-use regulations are another consideration every purchaser must review.

Recent data show a median home value of $407,550 and a median rent of $1,019 are influencing the area's real estate market, with a median household income of $80,223 and a median real estate tax rate of 0.72 percent of assessed property value.

How to Look Up Skamania County Property Records

Three free county resources address most property questions. The TaxSifter Parcel Search displays ownership, assessed value, and parcel details. The recorded index is available through the Auditor's Digital Research Room, and MapSifter maps every parcel. The parcel number connects the systems.

Who Keeps Skamania County Property Records

Property records in Washington are kept at the county level and are open to the public per the Public Records Act. Skamania County has three elected offices that share responsibility:

• RCW 36.22.010 designates the Skamania County Auditor as the county recording officer for deeds, deeds of trust, plats, liens, and surveys. It cannot provide blank deed forms or legal advice, but it now provides a free e-mail alert if any records are placed against your name or property.

• The Skamania County Assessment and GIS office finds, describes, and values all taxable property, keeps county maps, and determines levy rates for all taxing districts. This office answers valuation questions, and relief applications are entered here.

• The Skamania County Treasurer is responsible for the county's property taxes, as well as the taxes for the schools, fire, hospital, cemetery, and utility districts, and for the state Real Estate Excise Tax on sales. It has a special deputy on staff dedicated to foreclosures.

How to Search Skamania County Property Records Online

A complete search usually means checking two or three county systems.

• Enter the search in the TaxSifter Parcel Search. Find the parcel by owner name, address, or parcel number; record the parcel number, value, and tax history.

• Note the boundaries of the parcel and its location in relation to forest areas and the Scenic Area corridor.

• Take the owner’s name to the Digital Research Room. Search by name, date range, or by parcel number (entered as dashes by site instructions); 14-digit parcel numbers will be entered with dashes in between.

• Verify the current owner on the latest deed, then verify the previous deeds, ensuring the grantor and grantee are the same on each deed. Conduct the same index for deeds of trust, liens, and easements.

• The Treasurer will verify tax status. Delinquent taxes accrue interest and penalties, and if unpaid for a long time, the county forecloses on the property.

County Auditor: Deeds, Deeds of Trust, and Plats

The County Auditor keeps deeds, deeds of trust, and plats. Stevenson, North Bonneville, and each unincorporated community in the county is under the jurisdiction of an elected auditor, who is also the recording authority. In Washington, deeds of trust are used in place of mortgages, which means that when you make a financed purchase, the security instrument you will see is a deed of trust, not a mortgage, recorded under RCW 65.08.

Document types recorded include:

• Warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, and bargain-and-sale deeds

• Deeds of trust, reconveyances, and assignments

• Liens, lis pendens, and easements

• Plats and surveys, and boundary line adjustments

• On death, deeds and veterans' discharge papers are transferred

These books cover a history extending back to the county's territorial establishment in 1854, before the county became a state. Return mail for documents mailed to the record takes about 7-10 days, and current and former military personnel do not have to pay some fees. The county's land records are included in the State Digital Archives for recent decades.

County Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

The Assessment and GIS office appraises all parcels under Title 84 RCW at 100% of true and fair market value. The office conducts physical checks every six years and updates values each year based on sales. The county keeps the maps in the same office and computes levy rates for each district.

Use the TaxSifter Parcel Search or contact the office to find:

• The current legal owner of any parcel

• The parcel number that links county record systems

• Assessed land, improvement, and total values

• Property characteristics, acreage, and sales history

• Current-use enrollment and exemption status

Because private land is limited, the current use of timber and open space in rural areas is determined by the level of enrollment under Chapter 84.34 RCW, so many parcels are taxed on current use, not market value.

County Treasurer: Taxes, Bills, and Payments

The County Treasurer offers this service for tax bills and payments. The Treasurer bills and collects for the county and all junior districts, from school and fire to the hospital, the cemetery, and the public utility district. Washington's year is divided in half: first-half taxes are due April 30, and 2nd-half taxes are due October 31.

Interest and penalties for delinquencies are charged under RCW 84.56. The Treasurer is also the state's agent for the Real Estate Excise Tax. This office can record a transfer only after verifying payment or noting that no tax is due.

Property Tax in Skamania County: Levies, Exemptions, and Appeals

The 1 Percent Levy Limit and How Bills Are Set

The Constitution of Washington limits the regular tax levy to 1% of assessed value, or $10 per $1,000, and voter-approved excess levies for schools and other districts are levied on top of that. In addition, there is a separate rule, the 101 percent limit, that limits each district's annual revenue growth to 1 percent plus new construction over the previous year's revenue.

That is a revenue limit, not an assessment limit. Even as the Gorge market grows, assessed value can also increase, and if it increases faster than the district average, more of the levy is placed on that parcel.

Senior, Disabled, and Veteran Relief

In Washington, one of the more generous relief programs is implemented via the Assessment and GIS office. If you are a homeowner age 61 or older, or disabled, and fall below the county income limit, you do not have to pay excess levies and your taxable value can be frozen.

A deferral of taxes as a lien at interest is available to the qualifying owner under the same program as mentioned above. It is available to veterans with 100 percent service-connected disability. Refer to the Department of Revenue and the county’s exemptions page under RCW 84.36.

Appealing Your Value

Visit the Assessment Office, and they will walk you through the process of determining value. Send a formal appeal to the county Board of Equalization by July 1, or within the time frame printed on the valuation notice. A further appeal is to the State Board of Tax Appeals, and the owner must be able to produce identical sales.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

Along with the TaxSifter data, the county's parcel viewer, MapSifter, is published by the Assessment and GIS office. The county's recorded land documents are historically recorded, with the Washington State Digital Archives holding the county's records for more recent decades, and the Department of Revenue’s directory linking all county portals.

Details available include:

• Indicate parcel boundaries, ownership, and acreage.

• Performance-based assessment data linked to TaxSifter records.

• The Federal Forest boundary is the edge of the private forest land base.

• Define reference layers throughout the Columbia River Gorge corridor.

• Digitized county records from the past through the State Archives.

Land use review outside the county zoning system applies within the National Scenic Area. Check with the county planning office before firming up building plans.

Foreclosure and Tax Sales

Washington treats the two types of foreclosures differently, and both are important in property research.

Trustee Foreclosure on Deeds of Trust

Most home foreclosures in Washington are nonjudicial because they use deeds of trust. The trustee listed in the deed of trust begins a foreclosure sale without court order under the Deed of Trust Act (RCW 61.24). The sale is made at a public auction and recorded on Notices with the Auditor.

Judicial Tax Foreclosure by the Treasurer

A County Treasurer's foreclosure deputy is tasked with foreclosing property under RCW 84.64 when the property is three years past due on payment of property taxes in the Superior Court. The case ends in a public auction of the property itself. Washington is NOT a TIC state; the county sells the land, not tax liens.

Costs to Access Property Records

Web searches are complimentary. Washington has significant statutory surcharges for recording, and Skamania's schedule was updated as of July 27, 2025, so check before recording.

RCW 82.45 establishes the excise tax, and the affidavit that accompanies each sale is the best available proxy for the actual sale price. State housing surcharges apply to all documents and add up, making the first-page recording fee high.

How to Record a Document

Under RCW 65.08, recording must comply with RCW 64.04.020. The documents must be in writing, signed by the grantor, notarized, and include a full legal description. There is a four-step process:

• Format to Washington standards (office provides cover page if your first page does not have a 3" margin at the top). Give the parcel number on a separate line above the legal description.

• Fill out the REET Affidavit. The Auditor shall not receive a conveyance until the Treasurer shall certify the payment of such excise tax or note on the instrument that the same is not required.

• Submit recordings in person or by mail with the recording fee. Staff index work from the first page and do not have to read the text to complete the index.

• Once recorded, the image joins the permanent record, and mailed originals are returned in about 7 to 10 days. Consider signing up for the recording alert service while you are there.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Skamania County Property Records Checklist

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